


Breathe Me In

by mirilik



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Established Relationship, Love Declarations, M/M, OT4 Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-14 01:32:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13583178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mirilik/pseuds/mirilik
Summary: Niall's girlfriend just told him that she doesn't love him anymore. Louis always thought those two would last forever and them breaking up makes doubts about his own relationship appear in his head.





	Breathe Me In

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!  
> Have fun reading and please feel free to leave comments or kudos, they would make me really happy :)

Usually, when Louis makes his way over to Niall’s flat, he knows that as soon as the door to said flat opens, his mood will increase immediately until a state of total happiness is reached. For all the years that Louis has known the cheery Irish lad, he can’t remember a time where a visit was anything but relaxing and fun. 

That started, when the two of them met in sixth form and lasted until tonight, apparently. Because tonight Louis definitely does not have a good feeling about this visit to his friend. When he received the text from Liam, that they should meet up at Niall’s tonight, because their friend was going through a hard time, Louis' thoughts immediately went wild.

Was he ill? Was something with his family? His job? Or… _shit_ his girlfriend?

So Louis just sent a quick _I’ll be there in twenty_ to Liam who replied with the thumbs up emoji, grabbed a pair of jeans to replace his comfy, but pretty worn-out joggers he was currently wearing to lounge on the couch, grabbed his keys and his phone, and then was out on his way. 

Luckily it’s just a short walk over to Niall, so Louis’ brain doesn’t have too much time to make up worse and worse scenarios, that make Louis worry more and more with every step he takes. He even jogs the last few metres, hoping that the little exercise clears his head a bit.

It doesn’t, but it was worth a try.

Louis pushes the button next to Niall’s name next to the entrance of his building and waits. A soft click sounds through the speaker and then Liam’s voice asks who’s there.

“It’s me,” Louis says and takes another deep breath, trying to calm down his heart that is already beating wildly in his chest.

The answer comes in form of the door buzzing to let Louis in and he then quickly jumps up two sets of stairs. The door to Niall’s flat is slightly open and he can hear the Backstreet Boys softly playing somewhere in the living room. 

Louis slips inside, throws off his shoes and jacket and then moves towards the music. 

He actually feels his heart breaking a little when he takes in the scene that awaits him. Niall is lying on his couch, thick blanket pulled up over his nose, so that only his blue, watery eyes and his wild mop of brown hair is peaking out. Louis can still see the faint traces of tears on his red cheeks. 

“Hi Lou,” Niall mumbles under the blanket, his voice breaking a little. 

“Hey bud, what’s wrong?” Louis says. He claps Liam on his back as a silent hello and then moves over to his sad friend, perching himself on the edge of the couch. 

“Oh nothing,” Niall says and shrugs his shoulders. The blanket falls down a little with the movement and Louis makes sure to tuck him back in, before he slides his fingers through Niall’s hair, massaging his scalp until Niall closes his eyes and relaxes further into the pillow under his head. 

“Doesn’t look like nothing, love,” Louis says, his eyes moving from Niall over to Liam who is still standing in the room and looking at them with a mix of concern and endearment in his gaze. 

Niall takes a deep breath and scrunches his eyes together before he opens his mouth to speak again, but he gets interrupted from the bell.

“I’ll get it,” Liam says moving over to the hallway. 

“Come on, babe, tell me. I want to help you,” Louis tries again, voice as soft as how it always gets when he’s talking to his baby siblings.

Niall’s answer is short. “You can’t really help me, I’m afraid.” He opens his eyes and a little tear slides down his cheek. Louis’ heart is positively breaking.

“Try me.” He wipes the tear away and then continues to pet through Niall’s hair. The good thing about knowing someone as long as Niall is that you learn a lot of tiny little details about the other person. Such as how Louis knows that Niall’s loves having his hair played with. Just like another big kitten Louis knows.

 

A sob rocks through Niall’s body, making him shake under Louis’ touch. “She- she doesn’t love me anymore, Lou.” He finally manages to say and fuck. 

“Oh babe,” Louis sighs. He knew that things between Niall and his girlfriend Melissa were kind of rocky at the moment but he would’ve never thought that they would actually break up. Relationships had rough times, haven’t they? It’s.. a process of work, to make a relationship strong and last forever. 

“Sorry that I’m such a baby about this. I should’ve probably known that she would break up with me eventually. She’s so much better than me,” Niall rambles, talking himself in a frenzy.

“Hey, hey, Niall. Stop right there,” Louis nearly shouts and softly places his hand over Niall’s mouth. “She’s not better than you. You are an incredible person and if she can’t appreciate that, then that’s her loss and not your fault.”

Niall shrugs, closes his eyes again and Louis feels how anxiety starts flooding through his body. He’s never seen his friend like this and he’s scared on so many different levels. 

Niall and Melissa have been together since their first year of uni, making it nearly ten years now. As soon as those two met, everybody around them knew that they were the real deal. No one was even surprised when they got to know that they were an item and it was obvious how much these two cared about each other. How much they loved each other. 

How can such strong and pure feelings just… disappear? Is every couple destined to lose their love? Are long lasting relationships and marriages just a mask? Are they just so used to each other that they don’t do anything about it anymore and continue without the love? Does that work? And… could Louis live like that?

A big hand suddenly gribs Louis’ shoulder, a thumb pressing into the sensitive spot on the side of his neck, gently massaging the skin and Louis feels how the tension leaves his body, how he immediately relaxes into the touch.

He doesn’t turn around fully, just moves his head so far that he can place a tiny kiss onto the hand. 

“Hey Nialler, you look comfy there,” Harry says behind Louis and a tiny smile creeps onto Louis’ face. Leave it to Harry to not make a comment about Niall’s obvious distress or the tension in the room. He’s good with people, Louis knows that probably better than anyone else. “Also nice choice of music for tonight. I haven’t heard that album in a few months.”

“You have a Backstreet Boys album?” Niall asks, his eyes open again and if Louis is not imagining things, there’s a little spark in them as well.

“Nah,” Harry says and moves his hand from Louis’ shoulder and plops down behind him. He slings his arm around Louis’ waist instead. “But I do love my Old School playlists on spotify.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Niall states and sits up a little. His eyes definitely clearer and his cheeks a little less blotchy. 

Louis moves his hand on top of Harry’s, squeezing his fingers once and then let’s go to pull Niall into a tight hug. 

He smiles when he feels Harry pressing close against his back and sees how Liam does the same behind Niall, the four of them forming a group hug that inevitably ends in a big cuddle pile. 

**

They are silent for the first few metres of their walk back to their flat. Harry’s hand is engulfing Louis, their fingers holding tightly onto each other. The night is quite cold, but with Harry’s body so close next to him, Louis only feels warmth. 

“I’m sorry that I’m always trashing up our place when I’m stressed,” Louis finally says, voice small in the darkness. Harry squeezes his fingers even harder.

“It’s okay, Lou,” he mumbles. 

“It’s not ok,” Louis insists, voice growing a little frantic. “You’re already doing so much at home and instead of helping you, I am only making it harder. I really am sorry, Haz.”

They stop abruptly, Harry pulling Louis back until he’s plastered against the taller boy. 

“Hey, Lou. I know what you’re thinking, but we are not them, okay? We are also not our parents. We are us. I love you and I know that you love me. And you being a little more messy from time to time doesn’t change that. And me being annoyed for a day doesn’t change that either. I’m sorry that I yelled at you this morning, I know that you’re stressed because of work.” Harry stops talking and puts his fingers under Louis’ chin, pushing it upwards softly. 

When Louis looks into his boyfriend’s eyes, he’s only able to see love in them. Love and gentleness and trust and everything that connects them; has connected them for eight years already. 

“I am so in love with you, Lou. And I will always fight for us. Don’t ever doubt that, please.”

Louis swallows and takes a deep breath. “I know,” he whispers. “And I love you too. More than anything and anyone in the world. I just- you know seeing Niall like this just -”

“I know,” Harry interrupts softly, a small smile playing on his lips. “It scared me too, you know? But he will get better. And we are still us, Lou.”

Louis nods and lifts himself up on his toes, his arms circling Harry’s neck. He presses soft kisses onto Harry’s cheeks and nose, before he finally moves to Harry’s lips. The kiss is soft, but loving and all the remaining tension that was left in Louis’ body, finally disappears. Harry sighs into his mouth and Louis feels nothing but safe when Harry presses him further into his body.

They stay like that, kissing on an empty street in the middle of the night, for a little while longer. Afterwards they go home to their shared flat, undress each other while whispering soft words to each other and even though Louis feels that the term “making love” is way too cheesy, he can’t help it that he asks Harry to do exactly that to him. 

He whispers a last I love you into Harry’s ear when they are cuddled close, bodies in a relaxed post-orgasm state and smiles on their lips. He falls asleep with his arms around Harry’s body and his face pressed into his neck and he wouldn’t want it any other way.


End file.
